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Shanahan tries to calm RGIII craziness: It's just one game

ASHBURN, Va. – Robert Griffin III is leading the NFL in passer rating after Week 1, and he revealed Wednesday he can throw a football accurately, up to 40 yards, with his left arm. With the sports world caught

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Shanahan tries to calm RGIII craziness: It's just one game

Robert Klemko, USA TODAY
7:40 p.m. EDT September 12, 2012

Washington Redskins fans hold up signs for quarterback Robert Griffin III during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sept. 9. (Photo: By Derick E. Hingle, U.S. PRESSWIRE)

ASHBURN, Va. -- Robert Griffin III is leading the NFL in passer rating after Week 1, and he revealed Wednesday he can throw a football accurately, up to 40 yards, with his left arm.

With the sports world caught up in Griffin-mania, former head coach and current NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci described the Redskins rookie as the most athletic quarterback in NFL history. Griffin is the NFC offensive player of the week -- the first passer to win the award after his first NFL game -- and he'll be on this week's cover of Sports Illustrated.

Things probably are moving a little too fast for his old-school coach, who pumped the brakes Wednesday.

"Let's not get carried away with all this," coach Mike Shanahan said. "This is a first game. It's a great experience. It's part of the maturation process that he's going to have some highs and some lows."

Sunday was undoubtedly a high. Griffin passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-32 victory over the New Orleans Saints. His favorite play? A downfield block for teammate and fellow rookie Alfred Morris.

"As a quarterback, you always want to do something that's non-quarterback-ish," Griffin said. "I was pretty proud of that moment. And I didn't get injured. So nobody's going to be chewing me out for that."

There have been surprises all around Griffin. Shanahan unleashed an offense no one had seen from the Redskins in the preseason, complete with zone-read option running plays, derived in part from studying the Broncos' offense with Tim Tebow.

It seemed to resemble the offense Griffin employed at Baylor, though he insists the concepts are different.

"I wouldn't say it's exactly like what I did at Baylor," Griffin said. "The coaches are coming up with new concepts every day. Their imaginations are running wild. It will be fun to see what we do. And it'll be fun to go out there and execute it."

Griffin has imaginations running wild around the beltway. "Griffining" (celebrating with outstretched arms from a sitting positio, as Griffin did on his first touchdown pass) has replaced "Tebowing." His S.I. cover is a different picture: Griffin running with an eye downfield and his hands ready to throw.

And he probably won't read the stories about this week's game against the St. Louis Rams, who will see the player chosen with the No. 2 pick they dealt to the Redskins.

"I try to stay away from everything. Don't read too much into anything," Griffin said. "I'm not looking up articles, trying to see how people are saying I performed. You just move onto the next week. I made sure I did that Monday morning."

Griffin was willing to look back on some of his most impressive plays from Sunday. On the first play of the second quarter in New Orleans, Griffin recognized a blitz, knew he had a "hot" read available in fullback Darrell Young, but instead threw deep to the right side of the field to Fred Davis, after seeing him out of the corner of his eye.

"It's not really creating," Griffin said. "Fred was open. I hit him." Next time I'll probably throw to D.Y. He was pretty mad about that."

The play was a bit more significant to Shanahan.

"He was smart enough to stop, and he saw Fred wide open and threw to his back shoulder," Shanahan said. "When you're an excellent athlete, you have a chance to make plays off rhythm, and he'll do that throughout his career.

"He does it with very little effort. That ball goes 40 yards in the air and it looks like a 10-yard square-out route. Not many people can do that."

Even Shanahan can't help but gush sometimes.

Griffin's abilities and decision-making skills have given Shanahan reason to loosen the reins on his rookie. Griffin has the option to choose a run or pass on some plays when he approaches the line of scrimmage. The running backs and linemen run a rushing play, and the wide receivers run passing routes, and Griffin makes a choice based on what he sees. The concept is borrowed from Baylor.

"We really don't know what's going to happen until the defense plays, so we had running plays called and all of a sudden they gave us certain looks to take the running game away, and we threw a couple of bubbles (screens) early," Shanahan said. "And it's pretty impressive when a young guy comes in and plays with that composure especially in an environment like this."